This invention generally relates to the art of electrical connectors and, particularly, to an electrical connector assembly which provides for floating movement between a pair of mating connectors, such as connectors which are mounted to printed circuit boards or other substrates.
There are a wide variety of electrical connector assemblies which include male and female or plug and receptacle connectors which are designed to be mated in confronting relation. The connectors are movably mated together and, when mated, the connectors are rigidly coupled and cannot move relative to each other. Therefore, any vibrations or extraneous impacts applied to one of the connectors is transmitted to the other connector.
There are various applications wherein rigidly coupled connectors are undesirable and create problems. In other words, it is highly undesirable for vibrations or impacts to be transmitted from one connector to the mated connector. This is particularly true when the connectors are mounted to various other electronic components such as circuit boards or other substrates.
For instance, in a portable telephone assembly, the telephone may be coupled to an associated battery through a pair of mating connectors, and the telephone and battery, in turn, may be mounted to a pair of circuit boards or substrates. If the telephone is inadvertently dropped and strikes the floor or ground, the impact may cause a malfunction or damage to electronic components mounted on the circuit boards on which the mating connectors are fixed. Therefore, it is desirable to provide some form of relative floating movement between the mating connectors, and this has become increasingly difficult with the increase in miniaturization or down-sizing of such electronic devices. One of the problems with mating connectors which are provided with relative floating movement is that, as the connector housings move relative to each other, the terminals of the respective connectors tend to disengage, particularly under severe conditions of vibration or collision shocks. The present invention is directed to solving these problems in a new construction of a pair of mating connectors having floating movement therebetween.
An object, therefore, of the invention is to provide a new and improved electrical connector assembly which provides for floating movement between a pair of mated connectors.
In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the assembly is shown as a board-to-board electrical connector assembly, but the invention is not limited to such applications. A receptacle connector is shown mounted on a first circuit board and includes a dielectric housing having a mating receptacle portion. At least one conductive receptacle terminal is mounted on the housing and has contact portions spaced apart generally at opposite sides of the receptacle portion. A plug connector is shown mounted on a second circuit board and includes a dielectric housing having a mating plug portion insertable into the receptacle portion of the receptacle connector in a mating direction. The plug portion is smaller than the receptacle portion in a direction transverse to the mating direction to provide a range of floating movement between the connectors and, thereby, between the circuit boards transversely of the mating direction. At least one conductive plug terminal is mounted on the housing of the plug connector and includes resilient contact portions maintained in constant engagement with the spaced apart contact portions of the receptacle terminal throughout the entire range of the floating movement.
As disclosed herein, the resilient contact portions of the plug terminal are joined by a curved portion to provide resiliency for the contact portions. The curved portion and the resilient contact portions are at an end of a flexible contact beam of the plug terminal. The contact beam extends generally in the mating direction. The contact beam extends at an angle to the mating direction such that a force vector from the contact beam against the receptacle terminal opposite the mating direction automatically causes the receptacle portion of the receptacle connector to be spaced from an abutment wall of the plug connector to provide floating movement in a direction generally parallel to the mating direction.
According to an aspect of the invention, the resilient contact portions of the plug terminal, in an unstressed condition, are spaced apart wider than the spacing between the contact portions of the receptacle terminal. The resilient contact portions are spaced apart a sufficient distance to maintain constant engagement with the contact portions of the receptacle terminal throughout the entire range of the floating movement.
According to another aspect of the invention, the resilient contact portions of the plug terminal resiliently engage the contact portions of the receptacle terminal in an xe2x80x9cXxe2x80x9d direction transversely to the mating direction. The contact portions of the receptacle terminals have widths in a xe2x80x9cYxe2x80x9d direction transverse to the xe2x80x9cXxe2x80x9d direction and transverse to the mating direction to maintain constant engagement when the connectors float in the xe2x80x9cYxe2x80x9d direction.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.